Dumfries and Galloway Council have proposed creation of two new Trans-Pennine Inter City rail routes to link: Leeds with Glasgow (via Carlisle, Dumfries and Kilmarnock) Middlesbrough with Belfast (via Newcastle, Carlisle, Prestwick Airport and the Stena Line HSS high speed ferry service from Stranraer). This would, in effect create a Trans-Pennine "Borderer Express" providing a new Inter City service between Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

These proposals are purely a suggested extension of the new Trans-Pennine franchise seen as additional to existing local services and, more importantly, that, whilst the two proposed express routes could form a natural extension to the new Trans-Pennine franchise, their geographical position and cross-border nature could fit equally into an extended ScotRail franchise or a new Northern England Franchise express service. A further reduction in the number of Trans-Pennine bidders to just 2 companies is expected this month with the SRA expeected to announce the successful bidders by Easter.